Long Journey Back To Normalcy
by Pedals4tennis
Summary: This is what happens when Lucas comes clean with his hcm.
1. The lie becomes the truth

-1The lie becomes the truth

(This is my take on what happened after Lucas told his mom he has hcm)

"Mom," said Lucas. "I know you're hurting right now more than ever. And I don't want to make it worse; But there's something I need to tell you."

Karen walks over to Lucas after putting her coffee mug down on the kitchen counter. Thinking to herself, another pregnancy scare? Wait… no. The sound of her sons voice cracking made her panic. An encounter with Dan or another argument with his half brother Nathan.

Lucas looks at Karen very sadly and worriedly. "I lied to you about my heart condition."

Karen's emotions flawlessly ragging with grief as her son continued to finish his statement.

"I have h.c.m.," Lucas said starting to cry. "I need you know." Karen hugged her son as he continued to say, "I need you know more than ever."

Karen hugged her son for a while wondering what she was going to do. With Keith's death, and now Lucas's health problems, this left her with lots of upset emotions. Hugging her son even tighter, she knew she wasn't going to lose her son.

Breaking the hug, Karen grabbed Lucas's hand lightly and led him to the living room. As a mother, she needed an explanation as to why he had lied to her and kept this condition hidden from her for months. As they approached the couch, Karen stated, "Sit down Lucas."

Still holding each others hands, Lucas looked up at his mothers eyes meeting her gaze. "I know you need some answers, but I don't want to die yet."

While sitting on the couch, Karen pulled her seventeen year old son into another hug as both of them cried together. This was going to be a painful journey. "Sweetie, your strong, your not going anywhere," Karen replied softly (still crying). "Together we'll figure this out."


	2. The truth behind the lie

-1(Karen's P.O.V)

Lucas took my hand and led me into the kitchen. My seventeen year old son had lied to me about his health. How could he? We were dealing with so much. Dealing with Keith's death, the man who I was suppose to be wed to and a faithful father figure to Lucas. Keith was good in crisis but not here at the time Luke and I needed him the most. I was going to have to be strong and help my son through this potentially fatal condition.

Sitting down across from each other at the table I asked, "Why would you lie to me Luke?" Knowing very well what my son's was going to be.

"Mom, I wanted to play basketball." Lucas answered back; Making Karen's notion ultimately correct.

Very determined and very dominant sounding, "You showed me the letter. The letter from Dr. Mitchell clearly stated that you did not have hypertrophic cardio-myopathy. Why were the results wrong?"

"Mom," Lucas started to answer back choking with each word and becoming upset. "I used Keith's test results."

"That's two for you." Karen stated abruptly. "You must quit the basketball team immediately!"

"I quit the team today." Lucas stated (again sounding sad). "I told Whitey and Nathan that I have hcm."

Her heart felt for her son as he started dealing with his own health reality. "Good, I am glad you told them son. But we must see the cardiologist soon to figure out your treatment options."

"Maybe I could go back on my medicine." Lucas stated.

"You were on medication? How come I didn't notice any differences on our health insurance bill? Lucas start telling me the truth behind the lie!" Karen started getting furious with Luke.

"Mom, Dan was helping me out for a while with my medication until he cut me off. I know we didn't have enough money for the expensive prescriptions." Lucas stated.

"Dan knew about your heart condition?" Karen asked. Lucas refused to answer and refused to meet her gaze. "That's fine if you don't answer. We are going to see the cardiologist soon."

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	3. Seeing the doctor

-1Karen and Lucas were sitting at Tree Hill Memorial Hospital in the Cardiology Unit. They were waiting to see the Doctor. Karen could tell her son was nervous as he was bouncing his left leg up and down and twirling his thumbs. "Luke, we'll figure this out together, okay?"

"Mom, I'm a little scared." Lucas stated softly.

"I know son, I know."

"Lucas Scott," The nurse stated holding a clipboard. "The doctor will see you now." Karen stood up and followed her son and the nurse through a door and into a small hallway. They walked past a couple of different rooms and then turned and abrupt left into a small room.

The nurse spoke up again. "Mr. Scott, I need you to lie down on this table so I can get your blood pressure and temperature."

"Alright." Lucas did as told as Karen sat down in the chair. Karen watched as the nurse stuck the thermometer in her son's mouth and wrapped the cuff around her son's arm taking both the temperature and his blood pressure. She anticipated the cardiologist might put her son back on his medication and his heart would be fine.

"Good blood pressure 136/82 and temperature 97.8. The doctor will be in with you shortly." Said the nurse and then left the room.

"Mom, are you ok?" Lucas asked.

"Hun, I'm fine. Just relax son." Karen stated as she watched her son's anxiety rise as a rapid knock sounded on the door.

"Hello Mr. Scott. How are we today?" Said Dr. Mitchell (the cardiologist).

"Doing well." Said Lucas.

"Well let's see how well you are doing." The doctor said as he took his stethoscope off from around his neck and started listening to Luke's heart. "Hmm… " The doctor stated. "Well Mr. Scott I am going to have to perform a couple of tests with you to see if your hcm has progressed or not."

"What kind of tests?" Karen asked the doctor.

"First a question and answer test, then we will see how Lucas heart is doing with an electrocardiogram, and then lastly an exercise test." Stated the doctor. Karen looked at her son as he looked at his mom worriedly.

"First Lucas, the question and answer test. Please be truthful so we can determine how you are feeling and how your heart is." Said the doctor as he picked up a pad of paper and a pen from the counter in the room.

"Have you felt tired lately or a little fatigue at all during the day." Asked Dr. Mitchell.

"Maybe a little." Lucas answered softly. Karen looking at her son with growing looks of concern.

"Have you had any shortness of breath at all since you were diagnosed with hcm?" Asked the doctor.

"Once in a while." Lucas again answered softly.

"Thank you Mr. Scott, we are almost done with this part of the test. The last question. Have you had any chest pain?" Asked the doctor.

Hesitantly and looking at Karen, Lucas answered, "Yes." Karen leaned over putting her head between her hands shaking her head. Lucas then looked down at the floor.

The cardiologist spoke up again, "Thank you, I have enough information for us to perform the second test. However, I need you to lay on your back and just relax for this." The doctor started to set up for Lucas to get tested by the ECG machine. However the doctor didn't have the needle ready for his blood test. "I will be back in a few minutes to give you the second test." The doctor promptly left the room.

Karen looked at her son and spoke up, "Luke, Hon, you were having chest pain?"

"Mom, could we please not talk about this now?" Lucas asked.

Karen reached out and took her son's hand. Lucas gripped back tightly saying, "I hope this will be over soon."

Another rap sounded on the door and the doctor came back. The doctor noticed that Karen and Lucas were holding each other's hands so the doctor prepped the ECG for the opposite side that Karen was sitting on. "Ok, just relax and we will get started."

Lucas didn't flinch but watched the doctor as he placed electrodes on his chest. "This will monitor your heart beat," Said Dr. Mitchell. "This test will help determine whether or not there is any abnormality due to the muscle in your heart thickening or if there is any disorganization in the heart structure."

"How long will this test take," asked Lucas.

"Well normally the test should take anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes. So just relax, it will be over shortly." Said the doctor.

"Just relax Hun, it'll be over soon." Karen said softly to her son.

"While we are waiting for the ECG to be over, I am going to take two samples of blood from your arm." Said the doctor. "This test should determine your DNA sequencing so we can tell if there are any other changes in your health."

Lucas closed his eyes as the doctor took two small vials of blood from the vein in his arm. The blood test hurt like hell, but he just went through the motions, gripping his mothers hand hard. Karen squeezed her sons hand back. She knew that this was hard on him. However, Karen feared for her son. She didn't want any other abnormalities to show up with her sons health.

For Lucas the electrocardiogram seemed to take for ever. All he just wanted was to get up and leave the room. He was tired of being the center of attention but knew it was needed with having hcm. Luke just hoped that every time he visited the cardiologist, he wouldn't be poked and prodded like a lab rat.

"Mr. Scott, we are done with the ECG test. You did great. Now it is time for us to move on to part three of your examination," stated the doctor unhooking Lucas from the electrodes.

(Oh great, thought Lucas.)

"I need you to come with me." Doctor Mitchell said opening the door watching Lucas hop off the patient table, his mom following from behind. Karen and Luke followed the doctor into another office where a treadmill and two stationary bikes were. "Lucas, I need you to step on the treadmill please."

"Ok," answered Lucas complying to the doctor's wishes.

"I am going to have you run for a half hour at a decent speed, and then see how high your heart rate is. Please let me know if there is any discomfort while you are performing this test." Said the cardiologist.

Lucas started running. While working on the tread he felt like he was doing great. He thought about basketball while he was running and thought that maybe he could play again. With the right treatment, maybe Whitey would let him play on the team. He wanted to be strong enough to make those shots. Lucas fit right in on the Raven's team. He loved basketball. His mind drifted to his Uncle Keith. Luke remembered how Whitey had told him that Keith was not just his Uncle but he was indeed Lucas's father. He sure did miss Keith. It was true that Keith had the most impact on his life. Just then he missed Keith and then a pain gripped his heart as he moaned.

The doctor quickly pulled the cord to the treadmill. Lucas felt so dizzy as he stepped off the treadmill like a drunk man who just came home from the bar stumbling into his home. Quickly the doctor assisted Lucas to lay on a cot that was in the room. "Doctor Mitchell, I feel funny." Lucas said with a tremble in his voice.

Karen feared for her son as she leant down by her son on the cot in the room watching her son grip his heart.

"Doctor it hurts." Lucas said between breaths.


	4. Just Anxiety

-1Karen felt saddened as the doctor asked her to step out of the room. The doctor had called for two nurses on his pager and another cardiologist to come into the room. As Karen was stepping out into the hallway she looked back at her son lying on the cot with tears in his eyes. What kind of mother was she. She thought this would be a simple test to see how her son's heart was. Could it be worse. She panicked she knew her son hated seeing doctors and much worse, Karen knew that Lucas hated needles.

A half hour went by. Doctors and nurses rushed past Karen who was very fidgety waiting in the area with couches in the Cardiology Unit.

"Ms. Roe," Doctor Mitchell stated.

"How is Lucas, how is my son," Karen asked getting up on her feet.

"Lucas will be fine for now. I had to give him a shot of medicine to help stabilize his heart from jumping. We have reasons to believe Lucas may have suffered a small anxiety attack that contributed to his heart contracting fast. Right now Lucas is resting and I am allowing him to go home tonight."

"Ok," Karen stated sounding very relieved.

"However…" Doctor Mitchell continued… "I would like Lucas to be monitored for the next seventy two hours."

"So… should I call you if he isn't feeling well." Karen asked, she noticied a small change in the physicians voice.

"You should call me. But I would like Lucas to be on the Holter Monitor. This is a continuous test that will show our unit how Lucas heart is beating. This is a simple and safe test to show us any irregularity with Lucas's heart beats." The doctor stated.

"Thank you." Karen stated.

"You can go back and see Lucas now. We explained the monitoring system to him already. Oh and please, make sure Lucas does not get upset or stressed. Please try to keep him relaxed over these next seventy two hours." Stated the doctor.

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End file.
